Ravens to have NFL's huskiest front seven in 2013?

May 17, 2013|By Matt Vensel

At 1,992 pounds, the projected front seven of the Baltimore defense will weigh just under a ton, which is about the same as a tiny smart car, a large walrus or the Johnny Unitas statue outside M&T Bank Stadium.

It could also be the heaviest front seven in the NFL next season.

The folks over at Blogging the Beast recently took the projected depth charts from Ourlads, a reliable source, and totaled the weights of all the front sevens. I’m not sure why they did this, but it is interesting nonetheless.

The Ravens topped the list with an average weight of 284.6 pounds per player in their front seven, which included defensive linemen Haloti Ngata, Chris Canty and Terrence Cody and linebackers Terrell Suggs, Jameel McClain, Arthur Brown and Elvis Dumervil.

The New York Jets are second (1,960 pounds), followed by the Green Bay Packers (1,958), and the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles (tied for fourth at 1,950 pounds).

The lightest defense belongs to the Atlanta Falcons (1,806 pounds for an average of 258 pounds per player, which is on average 26.6 lighter than what the Ravens will have up front).

Sports Illustrated did a quick look to see if there was any correlation between the weight of the front sevens now and how the teams fared against the run last season, so obviously it isn’t an ideal comparison because of the effect of offseason roster moves on the rosters. But two of the NFL's lightest front sevens -- the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the AFC North rival Pittsburgh Steelers -- ranked first and second in rushing yards allowed last season.

The Ravens were 20th in run defense last season, allowing 122.8 rushing yards per game. But in the Super Bowl win over the San Francisco 49ers, their front seven included Arthur Jones, Ma'ake Kemoeatu, Courtney Upshaw, Dannell Ellerbe and Ray Lewis. There has been a lot of turnover since then, if you haven’t heard.

The starting Super Bowl front seven weighed 2,012 total pounds, 20 more than this year’s projected front seven. Check back in about eight months to see if dropping a little weight made a difference.